GCTF Announces Locally-Oriented Counterterrorism Fund
On Thursday, September 27, the fourth ministerial meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) took place in New York. This organization, founded in September of 2011, is an “informal, multilateral counterterrorism (CT) platform that focuses on identifying critical civilian CT needs, mobilizing the necessary expertise and resources to address such needs and enhance global cooperation.” Of the twenty-nine member states plus the European Union that make up the organization, seven members are from the Middle East and North Africa (Egypt, UAE, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar). Additionally, three of the five major committees of the organization are co-chaired by MENA states. Chief among the GCTF’s achievements in the past two years has been the establishment of Abu Dhabi’s Hedayah, the first international center for countering violent extremism.
The primary policy deliverable of last week’s meeting was the establishment of the Global Fund on Community Engagement and Resilience. According to the U.S. Department of State, the Fund is intended to “close the significant gap between the needs of local anti-extremism organizations (whether civil society, NGO or local government) and the resources available to support their vital work.” Because the GCTF representatives agree that efforts to counter violent extremism work best when managed at the local level, the Fund is designed to empower local government and other organizations. The Fund will address the challenges that these smaller organizations often face, including extending their project cycles beyond the short term and applying for monies from donors without the benefit of personal connections.
The Fund will be administered by a Secretariat with oversight from an advisory board, all chosen from GCTF member states. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged USD 30 million for the Fund, and it is ultimately expected to accrue around USD 200 million over the next ten years. The Fund should be active beginning in 2014, and leaders hope it will receive funding from member states as well as private donors. The logistical complexities of administering such a fund are clearly a challenge: an analysis by the Soufan Group points out that, “There may be many questions about how the Fund would operate, but there can be no question about the validity of its objectives.”
Ultimately, the Fund aims to take a more proactive and localized approach to counterterrorism assistance. According to William McCants, “Countries that have a radicalization problem previously had to rely on ad hoc support from wealthier donor nations, many of which are not bureaucratically capable of sponsoring the small intervention programs necessary to disrupt the radicalization process.” Moving away from this “ad hoc model” of counterterrorism will provide more local programs, including vocational training programs designed to provide job opportunities for at-risk youth and educational curriculums that focus on tolerance and conflict resolution.
In addition to discussing the Fund, GCTF member representatives adopted three new framework documents. The “Good Practices” document (PDF) identifies twelve specific recommendations for countering violent extremism. The Ankara Memorandum (PDF) discusses the various roles that government agencies, NGOs, and civil society can play in countering violent extremism, and the Madrid Memorandum (PDF) lists steps for policymakers to take in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack. Beyond these documents, the GCTF also discussed initiatives meant to counter specific difficulties in counterterrorism, including the foreign fighter threat, instances of kidnapping for ransom, the role of the judiciary in counterterrorism cases, and methods of using intelligence as evidence in the courtroom.